Do you need to have read Hip Flask to get into Elephantman?
I'm hesitant to try it, as those hardcovers are thin and expensive.

The other Ex Machina specials have been included in the trades, so they aren't really fooling anyone with the different artists.
Wasn't the first special about a guy who talks to animals like the main guy talks to machines?
When do we get the guy who talks to the clouds?

David Lapham rules.

ANd, also yes... Ghost Rider was also awesome.

It and Captain Britain are two of the very BEST things Marvel is cranking out these days.

~P~

Yeah, I have a Down Under thing going on. I happened to be listening to Australian Crawl recently, so they were on the brain.

I'd like to add one caveat to what was said: A faith-based object of power (for example: a crucifix) only works on a Marvel vampire if both the person wielding it truly believes in its power AND if the vampire recognizes it as a source of power.

There were some issues of Dracula's series and some occurrences in the Midnight Sons series where the ancient vampire mystic Varnae was unaffected by crucifixes and holy water because he existed pre-Christ; the Hyborian era (Conan's time) to be exact. Thus the cross had really no meaning to him and therefore did not hold any power over him. That does not mean that a modern vamp would not be effected just because they are of a different religion--If they grew up in a time where the symbol was universally recognized as an object of power and faith, it would still harm them.

With this quote and the mention of NZ last week, you're on a bit of an Antipodean vibe here, Greg. What was the name of that record store in Auckland? Was it Real Groovy?

Stefan: I've been trying to move to trades for mini-series from the Big Two. I know they're going to be collected, and it gives me some time to flip through a few issues and read some reviews of the issues before making up my mind. So I'm waiting for the trade of Bang Tango. I've been reading some decent things about it, so I'll probably get it, but I'm still making up my mind.

Wasn't that 'portrait' of Dracula a visual quote from the Tomb of Dracula series? The art on that really looked familiar. Reminded me quite a bit of Gene Conlon...but I can't be sure that I wasn't just imagining it.

I see what you're saying about Soul Kiss; I was actually quite pleasantly surprised with this issue. I'm a big Seagle fan but I thought the first issue did little other than convey the concept for the book. It's true we didn't learn much about Lilli last issue so I see your criticism; I thought the internal monologues this time around were much richer and that it gave us a much better look at the character.

Thanks for letting me know I missed Savior 28, I'll have to pick that up tomorrow. Big DeMatteis fan. I'll return the favor too; where's Joe Kelly's Bang Tango on your list? It's a good opener.

Ghost Rider this week was great too, I kinda wanted to see an Atlantean Ghost Rider (swimmer?) somewhere along the way in one panel.

His first arc was four issues, his second was five and this one is going to be like three or four.

How are any of those even approaching long?

There was the Halloween one, then there was that two-part one Chris Sprouse penciled... then there was the "Behind the Book" one... unless that one didn't count as a special or the two Sprouse issues counted as one...

I agree that this month's Scalped was a big letdown, especially after last issue... I felt like Aaron knocked it out at the last minute, and Furno's scratchy art didn't help much either.